Abstract
M.Ed.
In chapter one an exposition of the purpose of this study was given. The problem statement was presented and demarcated into the project problem, group research problem and specific research essay problem. The concomitant aims to the aforesaid problems were explained. The research
methodology used in this study was also stated as a literature review and quantitative research. Concepts which were used in this study were clarified. Chapter two concentrated on the literature review to establish what other theorists say about educational development, educational foundation of the teacher and teacher competence. It emerged that educational development with a view to the enhancement of the management of teacher competence is inter-alia centred around educational leadership, instructional leadership, inservice training, teacher evaluation, clinical supervision and physical amenities. In chapter three the design of the research instrument was discussed. The questionnaire consisting of 108 open-ended items based on research done by Van der Merwe and Grobler (1995) was discussed. The theoretical constructs around which teacher competence revolves, were tabulated. Questions pertinent specifically to educational development were discussed. A wide range of post levels of teachers was sampled. Biographical data was requested from respondents since it was believed that the above aspects could be related to teacher competence and could influence teacher perceptions. The provinces to which questions were distributed and the return of questionnaires was explicated. An analysis and interpretation of some of the empirical data was undertaken in chapter four. The construct validity of the research instrument was investigated using two successive factor analyses. This produced two factors named as follows: • educative competence consisting of 81 items with a reliability coefficient of 0,978; and collaborative competence consisting of 27 items with a reliability coefficient of 0,918. Hypotheses were set and multivariate statistics were used to analyse and interpret the data. Important findings and their recommendations were explicated in chapter five. Literature findings revealed that teacher competence could be effectively managed only if there is educational development in respect of leadership, in-service training, teacher evaluation, clinical supervision and physical amenities. Empirical findings revealed that teacher competence consists of educative competence and collaborative competence. Topics for further research were highlighted.